The Shinigami-Nin
by Reduce All
Summary: When Minato is sealed away the Kyuubi into baby Naruto, Something unexpected happens with the seal. Something that will make him a Legend greater than all the rest, but give Naruto more personal demons.
1. Chapter 1

HI guys! This is my first story, so don't judge too harshly.

OWN NARUTO, I DO NOT!

* * *

"This can't be. I just met my son, now I have to say goodbye!?" Minato thought as he began the sealing of the Kyuubi into the only thing he loved more than his wife and self.

With a mighty roar, the bane of the shinobi world, was slowly being sucked into the newly formed seal on young Naruto.

In a frantic attempt to stop the sealing, the Kyuubi lashed out at the new born. However, Minato and Kushina launched themselves in front of the frenzied beast, only to be impaled on the Kyuubi's sharp claws.

"Oh no!" was the only thought running through both Minato and Kushina, they saw that they were only partially able to stop the attempt on Naruto's life.

Minato and Kushina were too close to there son to fully stop the Kyuubi and the mighty beast was able to just able to puncture Naruto's belly, effectively stopping the shinigami from being able to sealing the other half of the Kyuubi's soul in the child, by cutting off a piece of the seal.

With unforeseen consequences.

The Shinigami was a being the follows the law to the letter, and the sealing contract stated that to use the seal, one would have to sacrifice their life.

Only One.

This was very worry some for the god, because if he pulled the Kyuubi's soul any farther, then the child's life was to be lost.

Why?

Because the part of the seal that was damaged was the part that let the being, that the target soul was being sealed in, act as a conduit, thus, not affecting the "container" soul. And with Minato's soul ( and yes, the shinigami knows everyones name... even your name) already used as the sacrifice, taking the child's soul would lead to a breach in contract, and that meant mountains of paper work. (the enemy of all leaders, even gods)

So, with only one choice remaining, due to time limits, the Death God took his dagger and cut off his own arm.

The Kyuubi, seeing this, was so shocked at seeing this God, seemingly, let his soul go, that he dropped his guard and quit struggling.

What a HUGE mistake on his part.

While it was true that the Shinigami cut off his influence on the matter, the sealing array was still working, and pulled in the still stunned walking disaster into the infant.

Along with the Shinigami's arm.

After all the fighting and screams of the dying, the silence when the Great Fox was finally gone, was deafening.

The only sound that could be heard, if just barely, was a crying infant, the last Namikaze, the last Uzumaki, and the birth of a legend.

Legends are material to be molded, not facts to be recorded.

-Hervey Allen

* * *

And Done with chapter 1.

Review Please. I want to know how I did on my first time.


	2. Chapter 2

Major thanks for reviews from

darkhuntressxir

DeathSpectrum

Sessyruby

And don't worry, more will come. However, you must be patient with me. I work nights and sleep most of the day. Mondays and Fridays are my days off so i most likely will be posting bi-weekly.

OWN NARUTO, I DO NOT!

On with the story!

Fear.

The result of a vengeful mob.

Pain.

The result of endless, savage beatings and insults.

Loneliness.

The results of being an out cast that is shown no love.

Hate.

The cultivation of fear, pain, and loneliness.

These things a child should not possess. especially when the child is only 6 years old. Yet, young Naruto has Fear, Pain and Loneliness...

But not hate.

Even at the young age of six, he knows that hate leads to despair, revenge and death, which in turn breeds fear, pain, and loneliness. An endless cycle. Something that he will never want for even the worst of men.

"Come back here, you monster!"

"I don't want a hug that badly." came the smart-ass remark

And so starts a new day, in the same old way.

Naruto gets up at the break of dawn, steals some food, pranks a villager, and bolts down the street spewing smart-alec remarks back at the poor victim, only to reach the shinobi academy just before class starts.

The only problem is that Iruka always makes him apologize to his victims, AND gives him detention.

But that's ok. He likes Iruka, and Iruka always shares his lunch with Naruto. Plus the longer he is in class, the less likely that someone will try to kill him. Seems like a good Idea to Naruto.

"Ramen ramen ramen" muttered Naruto during one of Irukas lectures ( more like torcher ), only to get a book chucked at his head by Iruka.

"PAY ATTENTION NARUTO!"

"Fine, sheesh." So as he dropped his head while the rest of the class snickered at him, he continued on his previous thought process.

"I already know all this. Get a move on Iruka. Get to the good stuff."

"And now for the taijutsu lesson. Everyone line up."

"Finally!"

When they made there way outside, they all had to pick a number to find out who they were to practice with. And, just his luck, Naruto was placed with Sasuke.

" Hey Naruto! Looks like I get to beat you into the floor again." Sasuke said with a grin that screamed, " PUNCH ME HERE!"

" Not today Sasuke. Today is the day that I finally beat you! Dattebayo!"

" On my signal. Ready? asked Iruka. both boys nodded.

"Begin!" and the fight was on.

Naruto instantly ran in, his fist cocked back. Sasuke saw this and smirked. "Typical dobe" , Sasuke thought as he stepped out of the way to trip Naruto. As Naruto stumbled, he punched the ground, breaking his fall and his knuckles, and tried to hand-spring kick at Sasuke's face. A narrow dodge, on Sasuke's part, later, Sasuke kicked Naruto in the ribs earning a satisfying thump from the connection. Dazed, but not out, Naruto got up to face Sasuke, just in time to see a fist flying directly at his face. " No time to block or dodge." thought Naruto. So he did the only thing he could think of... punch him back. Both fists connected at the same time. Sasuke's fist, directly in Naruto's nose, Naruto's fist landing an uppercut to Sasuke's chin. The force of the boys punches sent Naruto backwards and Sasuke up into the air. And in a last attempt to knock Sasuke out before he hit the ground, Naruto bent backwards to start a flip and caught Sasuke in the chin AGAIN, knocking Sasuke out of the ring and out of conscienceness.

Needless to say, everybody was stunned. Naruto, the class clown and dead-last just beat the progedy of the Uchiha, Sasuke. The whole fight only lasted FOUR hits, two for Sasuke and two for Naruto.

7 SECONDS! A new record for the academy.

After regaining conscienceness, Sasuke looked around to see a proverbial riot against Naruto.

"How dare you hurt Sasuke!"- Sakura

"You just got lucky, you moron!"- Ino

"Troublesome" - I'll give you one guess.

So on and so forth. all the while Naruto is just sitting on the floor, tears in his eyes, and taking the verbal lashing that was given him. Yet the only thing that Sasuke saw was a person like himself. Always looking from approval from others ( or in Sasuke's case, his dad) and not ever finding it.

"ENOUGH" seethed Sasuke, and instantly was rewarded with silence.

"He beat me fair and square, and there is nothing that any of you can do to change that!"

"But , Sasuke.." started Sakura

" No buts! If it was me who won, all of you would be cheering, but all you are doing is belittling him. I wont stand for it! Now leave him ALONE!"

So shocked were the people listening, that as they started on there way home, they were still quiet.

"Hey!" shouted Naruto, stopping Sasuke in his tracks. " Thanks."

"Hn. Whatever. Next time i will beat you. There is no way that i will be left behind by a dobe."

"Yeah,yeah. Just don't cry when I beat you again, Teme."

" Bring it, dobe."

"Whatever you say, duck-butt."

And with that, Naruto and Sasuke both parted ways, knowing that a friendship was forming and loneliness was being taken away.


	3. Chapter 3

Once again, thanks for the reviews from

**Creation to Ash **( My name "Reduce All" and his "Creation to Ash". lol)

**Darkhuntressxir**

So for this chapter, I'm going to swich to the Shinigami's POV for a little bit, and see what he thinks about lossing his arm and what he is going to do about it.

OWN NARUTO, I DO NOT!

And on with the story

* * *

As a god of death, the Shinigami has taken many forms and names in the past. As a result, the Shinigami has adapted to his appearance to reflect what the person seeing him believes the shinigami is. For some it is Izanami, the mother of land, of death and the first female. Others see the Shinigami as Mrtyu-mara, a demon that makes others commit suicide and the one who decides the time of people's death. Or even Yama, the first mortal to die, and given the role as ruler of the departed. The list goes on.

All of these are the things that make up the shinigami, so when the Shinigami lost its arm ( grown back later ) it lost a pice of its self. The problem was, it didn't know what part.

So now we find the Shinigami shifting forms, while on its break, to find out what was missing.

After flipping through all of its forms, the Shinigami is worried. Not only was Mrtyu-mara missing, but also Gozu and Mezu .( Ox-Head and Horse-Face, Guardians of the Underworld and judges of the souls.)

"Great! Just fanTASTIC! Lost not one but THREE forms. And why!? Because of following the rules. What the HELL was I thinking, cutting off my arm like that!?...*sigh*.. Okay, no need to freak out over this, just have to check in with the kid and make sure that he isn't going crazy. I dont need Amaterasu-sama and Kishi-Mojin-sama on my ass about messing with the living. Plus, the Jizo-Bosatsu part of me feels bad about potensaly screwing with a child's life. Na. The kid is probably some sort of hero to his village, for sealing the Kyuubi. Still better check in on my next break. I wonder how old he will be by then?.. Lets see (a few moments of incohearent mumbling about math, later) equals 13 years old. Not too long. Man, dementional time algorithums SUCK! I knew I should have gone to school, but the food there tasts like crap. Speaking about food, It's lunch time...Wait...What was I thinking about?... Oh yeah! The kid has three of my selfs. Got to fix that."

And with that, Shinigami went back to work, filling out paperwork, escorting souls, etc, untill his next break.

-Time skip

"Sir. It is time for your break. And, just a reminder, you must visit that Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki. Something about losing yourself. Im not too sure, you didn't make much sense at the time and I was busy." Said the Shinigami's secretary.

"Yes! Break Time!" exclamed the Shinigami... Earning a glare from his secratry... who didn't get breaks.

"Oh yeah. Got to see that kid...soo...BYE!" and with that, the all powerful god of death ran out the door, narrowly avoiding the pens and letter-openers being tossed at his head.

-Mean while, with Naruto

October 10th.

The anniversary of Naruto's birth, and the single most devastating day in history for Konoha.

"Happy birth-day to me. Happy birth-day to me." sang Naruto, all alone in his home, with tears in his eyes, but refusing to let them fall.

-With Sarutobi

Hiruzen Sarutobi promised that he would be with young Naruto on his birthday, however, the Council dragged him into another boring meeting about nothingness, with some 'kill the demon' on the side.

Whoever said that being Hokage was easy, never had to listen to a bunch of man-babies complain about how many ninja jumped on there homes and shops in the last week.

"I mean, come one, our ninja are protecting us, and keeping an eye out for trouble. Not randomly stomping on houses, just to see who they can piss off." Sarutobi said to the civilian council.

Meenwhile, on the other side of town, a green-spandex wearing man just finished the newest challenge with his stoic/pervy rival. What was the challange, you ask? Who can stomp on the most buildings in ten minutes... Youth won.

As the meeting wore on to even more trivial things, Hiruzen started getting an uneasy feeling. Looking at the sun, which just set, he remembered that he promised Naruto that he would be with him on his birthday...Birthday...BIRTHDAY!

"ENOUGH!" he shouted. "I draw this council to a close." he stated as he rushed out of the room, indifferent to the shouts of confusion that his departure made.

-Across Town

As Sarutobi made his way towards Naruto's appartment, he notices that the crowd was getting thicker and more rowdy.

When he smelt smoke and burning flesh, he doubled his pace, and what he found horrified him.

The ANBU that were charged with watching Naruto, tied the boy up and set fires on each of his limbs, while the crowd took turns hitting or stabbing his mid-section, laughing when Naruto pleaded for help.

Naruto's cries for help were fading, a sure sign of his comming demise.

Then suddenly, the fires went out, the air took on a evil feeling, and the wind died down.

-Mind scape

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Naruto found himself in a dark, damp sewer.

With no where to go but forward, he started walking farther in, and as he did he could hear quiet murmurs of a small group talking, just pass the impossibly large gate.

Just as he was about to pass the gate, four arms, suddenly, reached out to grab him. The first, was the biggest of them and covered in orange fur. The second was slightly smaller, but still large, and was pale grey with small runes running across its skin. The third and fourth were the same size and the smallest, about the size of a man tha stood seven to eight feet tall, and muscular. the only differance was the skin. One was a redish-brown and the other was a brownish-purple.

As Naruto looked up he also noticed the eyes of his would-be attackers.

The largest sets was full of hate and a malicious fire.

The second set looked like the eyes of the people who beat and hurt him. Like they found some sick pleasure in watching others suffer.

The smaller sets looked as firm as stone, almost like they were judging all around them.

"So, our warden has decided to grace us with his presence." came a booming voice, filled with sarcasm and loathing.

"Who are you people?!" asked a frightened Naruto.

The moment the voice started again, Naruto could finally see the people that were behind the gate.

No, not people. Demons.

"I am the Great Kyuubi. Show some respect, boy!" Spat Kyuubi. And he surely was great in eyes with slitted pupils that spewed forth malice, nine magnificent tails spread out like a fan behind him, slowly swaying, and a burning aura of power surrounding him.

"I am the Powerful Mrtyu-mara. Tell me human, do you want to know how you die?" Came a silky smooth voice. And as Naruto saw, not only was its arm covered in runes, but the rest of his body, with the face exempt, was also. And while Kyuubi's aura was one of malice and power, so was his, exept it didnt have any warmth or heat like Kyuubi. Insted Mrtyu-Mara's aura was cold as ice and just as cruel.

"We are the judges Gozu and Mezu." These demons were identical in every way, but there heads and skin color. Gozu Had an ox head and his skin was redish-brown while Mezu had a face of a horse and skin color was brownish-purple. And dispite being a fraction of the size of Kyuubi and Mrtyu-Mara, these were the far most intimidating. Eight feet tall, each equipped with bidents, and muscular. Not the bodybuilder muscular, but like every fiber was a steel cable. Finishing their apperance was stony features and a grave aura, giving the feeling like they were silently condeming him.

Naruto was having a hard time finding who to be more scared of. And understandably so.

He Just found out that he is the container of four DEMONS!

So he does the sensible thing, when confronted with demons, and faints.

-Somewhere in Konoha, a white eyed heiress gets the feeling she is being ripped off.

* * *

-List of Gods and Goddess

Izanami - First female, earth goddess, creator of death

Mrtyu-Mara - Makes others commit suicide. Decides the time to die, for everyone.

Yama - The first mortal to die. Ruler of the dead.

Gozu and Mezu - Ox-head and Horse-face, respectivly. Guardians of the gates of death. Judges of the souls.

Amaturasu - Ruler of all Deities. Ruler of warmth, harvest, love, fertility, goodness, wisdom, peace, light, and compassion.

Kishi-Mojin - Protectress of children. Ruler of compassion, childbirth, life, balance, and fertility.

Jizo Bosatsu - Protector of mankind. Rescues souls from hell. Ruler of children, the dead, comfort, rescue, counsel for the dead,and

gives protection from evil.

* * *

Sorry about the cliffy, but I didn't want an extremely long chapter and I was getting sleepy. ( Finished around Midnight )

And I know Naruto getting almost killed is over used, but it was a needed evil.

Also, this Friday, I won't post anything because I am preparing to give a talk to over six-thousand people. ( Im only 19 )

Once again, Please review, Favorite, Follow, and/or tell others about this story.

Untill next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi again. My talk went perfectly, not that you really care.

Now, Major thanks for the reviews from:

**darkhuntressxir**

**garra king of the sand**

**S.R.457**

**Silvermane1**

**IAMPRETTYDAMNAWESOME**

**rivereagles999**

**GrandmaP**

**TheRazgrizDragon**

**joe**

I must say, Thanks for thinking so much about my story. Now.

I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

* * *

-Real World

As Hiruzen Sarutobi walked towards Naruto, the villagers started cheering, thinking that the Hokage's fury was directed to the prone form on the ground. However, the ANBU realized the bond that Hiruzen shared with Naruto.

While the ANBU were thinking up a plan of escape, the strongest killing intent that they ever faced, suddenly bore down on them, making it impossible to move.

"We..are...so..dead" whispered the boar mask ANBU.

The villager next to him thought that the ANBU said, 'He is so dead.'

"Did you hear that! Even the ANBU said that Hokage-sama is going to kill the demon brat!" As the words left this idiots mouth, the rest of the villagers started cheering louder.

Closing his eyes to some what mask his anger, the "God of Shinobi" addressed the crowd.

"Nobody move." Immediately, a hush fell upon the crowd. "This will get messy if I miss." This made the sickening smiles on the villagers faces grow wider.

Forming a few hand-signs, he whispered his first jutsu.

**"Earth Release : Earth-Style Wall."**

As the walls were still being formed around the crowd, who were oblivious to there coming demise, he continued his had signs in such a way that made it look like he was just pulling on an enormous amount of power.

**"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!" **shouted Hiruzen.

And at once, three majestic and frighting, fiery dragons escaped Hiruzen's mouth and charged at Naruto. At the last second, however, the dragons turned up into the sky. As the villager's eyes followed the brilliant display of power, they saw that a wall had been erected around them all. Before anyone even had the time to scream, the dragons bellowed a mighty roar and flash-cremated the crowd. The only things left was the skeletons, standing up, joints fused together from the heat. A permanent reminder of the fury of the "God of Shinobi".

Hiruzen slowly rose from the earth, after hiding Naruto and himself with a quick **Earth Release: Head-Hunter Technique. **As he wiped the ash off his shoulder, he coldly said to the newly departed, "Burn in hell."

"I'll/We'll see to it" came the reply.

Hiruzen was shocked. Not just at the fact that a voice replied, but that three voices replied.

Turning around at speeds that almost gave him whip-lash, Hiruzen found himself face to face with the Shinigami. But that didn't explain the other two voices.

"Ah. Gozu, Mezu. I'm glad you have awoken. Tell me, where is Mrtyu-mara?"

" He is with us, Mrtyu-mara, and the demon Kyuubi, my lord."

Now to say that Sarutobi was stunned, was like saying the Second Shinobi War was just a school yard scuffle. He was standing next to a GOD, that was talking to two supposed mythical demons! AND the Shinigami got an answer from Naruto!

"OK. What is going on!" shouted Hiruzen.

"It would be wise of you not to raise your voice at Shinigami-sama." The now standing "Naruto" said ,with eyes shut. "And the answer to your question is simple. The night this boy was born, he was cursed to be the container of demons. As the Shinigami was sealing the Kyuubi, a complication arose that forced the Shinigami to give up pieces of himself. As a result..." The "Naruto" opened his eyes. "This boy will have the power of Gods."

"Naruto's" eyes were the single most frightening eyes that Hiruzen ever had the displeasure to gaze upon. Slitted, red pupils and black iris' with royal purple sclera's. For the brief moment that Hiruzen glimpsed "Naruto's" eyes, he was felt like they hated him, whispered encouragements to kill himself and judged his very soul.

"Naruto?" the bewildered man asked.

"You are mistaken. We are Gozu/Mezu." the duel voices replied "We are merely using this body for the time being. Do not fret, as this is just temporary, until the boy learns how and why he was cursed and until his body is healed."

As Gozu and Mezu finished talking, Hiruzen took his first real look at the damage dealt to Naruto's body. His arms and legs turned charcoal black and cracking to show pink flesh underneath. A clear fluid seeped out of the cracks and ran along the burnt flesh. To finish off the disgusting display, his chest and belly are full of punctures and lacerations. The deepest stab and cut wounds were all located on the seal. The deepest stab ran through his naval and exited just to the right of his spinal column.

"Gozu. Mezu. What is your judgement about these wounds?" asked the Shinigami.

"All of these wounds were given out of hate and fear. Our judgement is that these injuries were given unjustly."

With a sigh the Shinigami responded, "Then grant the proper compensation to the boy. If his body dies, so will everything sealed in him."

"Yes sir." said Gozu and Mezu.

Suddenly, a greatly concealed but a powerful wave of energy thrummed from Naruto's seal, cracking the burnt skin and flesh off, leaving nothing but bones. As the flesh crumbled off his arms, the wounds on his abdomen were quickly sealed shut in a flash of steam and hissing. Gozu and Mezu, using Naruto's head, looked at the now flesh-less arms and found that even the bones were slightly blackened. "_This is no good. We can't replace this frame because if we do, his arms won't grow must have assistance from Mrtyu-mara."_ they thought in tandem. So, sinking back into the mindscape, the judges made a deal with the malevolent spirit. As they returned from the mindscape, Naruto's bones slowly were bleached white and black runes appeared. Just as the last rune was finished, flesh quickly spread from Naruto's shoulder blades down to his fingers, with skin following quickly behind.

"We have given what was taken with ten times more, as is the law. We will be returning to the boys subconscious . Good day to you both." And with that, Naruto slumped to the floor.

* * *

And done. Don't be mad. I promise i will finish on Friday.

Ask questions, if you have them. I will answer what I can and leave the rest for future chapters.

Review, Follow, Favorite, or do whatever you want. Thanks for reading.

Until next time.


	5. Chapter 5

Once again, much thanks for reviewing to:

**Creation to Ash**

**Silvermane1**

**TheRazgrizDragon**

**darkhuntressxir**

**garra king of the sand**

I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

* * *

Sitting up, Naruto looks around and sees Hiruzen and some strange floating guy that looks like he is wearing ceremonial robes.

"Hey Jiji! I just had the weirdest dream. I was in a sewer, standing in front of a big gate. Then I was attacked by these huge guys! Even the Kyuubi was there, and some ugly guys called Gozu and Mezu, and some other guy. I can't remember his name. It had a "mara" at the end. plus, he was really ugly. Anyway, they asked me some stuff then said that I was there jailer. Weird right? Oh! Then I got some really cool powers after they said my dad did this. For some reason they though my dad was the Fourth Hokage. Then I woke up and well... here we are. By the way, who is that floating guy?"

Hiruzen and the Shinigami both sweat-dropped at this. Naruto just talked to two gods and two demons, and he just sits back up and starts rambling away, like it was no big deal.

"Well" The shinigami said "It looks like he is just fine. No craziness coming from him... Well not any dangerous kind of crazy." Turning to Hiruzen, he continues, "I guess I'll just checking with him every thirteen years. Oh. By the way, Minato says hi."

And just like that, the Shinigami fades away, leaving Naruto and Hiruzen looking bewildered.

"Jiji. Who was that guy?"

"That is a very long story."

- After the very long story

"So I have four super powerful beings in my body, half of them are evil, and I can learn to control all their power. And to top it off my dad was the Fourth Hokage, and he did this to me. Does that sum it up?" asked Naruto

"Yup. That is pretty much is it in a nut shell"

"...Well... THIS ROCKS! I'm going to be the best ninja ever!"

"Well, I guess I don't need to worry about this turning out bad. He seems to be taking this very well." thought Hiruzen.

"Now Naruto, there is a law about you and what is sealed in you. No one, except you, can talk about it. And while you can tell whoever you want, be careful. There are people that will try to kill you or find a way to undo the seal on you to gain that kind of power. Being a ninja isn't all about flashy Jutsu or world wide fame. In fact, infamy or ignorance to who you are is a better choice, as it will leave your enemies guessing as to your true power. Do you under stand?"

"Yeah Jiji. I understand."

"Good. Now you should get home. You have a long day ahead of you."

"I guess I do. Night Jiji. I'll see you tomorrow." Naruto said, as he turned around and started walking home, completely forgetting about the attack and damage he suffered just a few minutes ago.

-Next day, After graduation exam

Naruto had just failed. Again. All because he couldn't do the stupid clone-jutsu.

So, once again, Naurto sat on the tire swing watching all the kids who passed the test getting attention and love from there parents. Feeling tears starting to form, Naruto closed his eyes and hung his head.

"Naruto."

Without even looking up, Naruto said. "Why are you here Sasuke? Are you going to rub your victory in my face?"

Narrowing his eyes, he said "I was just going to ask if you were still coming over to my house today. But it looks like you want to spend the day moping around instead of finding a way to make gennin." And with that, Sasuke walked away.

Naruto couldn't help but to think of himself as a failure.

Mizuki, having watched the two boys interaction, waited until almost everyone was gone to approach the melancholy boy.

Hook.

"I'm sorry" said Mizuki. "I tried to get Iruka to let you graduate. After all, you did better than Kiba in the written exam and only bairly lost in the tiejutsu exam. But he would not budge on the failed** Clone Jutsu**... I'm sorry."

Having being slightly heartened by the thought of Mizuki rooting for him, Naruto said, " Don't worry Mizuki. I'll get it next time." But the thought of having to go through a whole year more of classes hurt Naruto like a physical blow, and Mizuki knew it.

Line.

" But what if there didn't have to be a 'next time'? What If I could offer you a way to graduate that wasn't about Jutsu, but of stealth and infiltration. After all, that is what ninjas do, Right?" asked Mizuki slyly.

Naruto was a little hesitant. "I don't know. Iruka would have offered me a different test, if there was one. I just know it."

Sinker.

"He would have, but this test is extraordinarily hard. The only people that have ever passed this test, have played a major role in our village's history."

excitedly, Naruto asked, "Really?! Who?"

Mizuki went for the kill. "Why, the hokages. In fact, the tests nick-name is 'the hokage test'.

"I'll take it. Just tell me what to do."

Mizuki was mentally rubbing his hands together. "Walk with me. I'll tell you on the way to Ichiraku's. You will need your strength."

- That Night

Naruto chose to forgo, what he called, his 'Tiger Orange' outfit for this test. His reasoning is that tigers are not so stealthy indoors. So Naruto made his way to the Hokage's tower, in the dead of night.

After years of having ANBU guards, Naruto figured out there schedule. Sure, it changed every day, but they recycle the same one every month.

After waiting for the shift change, he made his way up the side of the tower using only climbing spikes on his palm. Just before he pushed open the Hokage's office window, he heard Jiji talking to some one else inside, so he moved to the neighboring window. Pushing it open, after cutting the lock, he stumbled into a small, dusty room, full of boxes, scrolls and artifacts. 'Jackpot' He thought.

'Now, where are you, little scroll?... There you are.' picking up the scroll, he turned to leave.

Now, Mizuki never intended for Naruto to actually find the scroll. He told Naruto that it would be under a powerful genjutsu and to undo it, Naruto needed to flare his chakra as much as he could, thus being caught. And protocol states that when the forbidden scroll was located by anyone, it would be moved to a new area, and the finder dealt with. Mizuki intended to be in the group that moved the scroll so he could swap it with a fake and later defect to the Sound village.

What he didn't know was that Naruto's 'tenants' made genjutsu just look like wavy lines in the air in front of the object that the genjutsu was cast upon. So all Naruto looked for was the scroll that had the most distortions in front of it.

'Yes! Almost home free.'

CRASH!

Freezing in place, Naruto slowly turned his head. On the floor was a box that he accidentally knocked over, the little orange books that it held, laying all across the floor.

Before he could turn back to the window, the door on the other side of the room opened up, revealing Hiruzen and Danzo. The two older men's eyes went to the blond intruder, to the orange books on the floor, then to the scroll under Naruto's arm.

panicking, Naruto did his most powerful, and only, original jutsu on the old men, and left both of them with bloody noses to dream blissfully for a few minutes.

-A Few Minutes Later

Sitting up, both men with a hint of blush on their cheeks, the two most powerful men in the village made a pact to keep the details of their shameful defeat a secret.

Going out to Hiruzen's office, he informed his secretary that a village wide man hunt was ordered for Naruto, but he wanted him unhurt.

When asked for the details about their defeat, both Hiruzen and Danzo just said that Naruto made a forbidden jutsu and as a forbidden jutsu, the details were confidential.

You got to love old men trying to keep their dignity.

* * *

Sorry about the delay on this chapter. I have been busy.

Thanks again for reading. The next two chapters will come in quick succession, possibly tomorrow and the day after.

Please review, Favorite, and/or Follow.


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for the reviews from

**darkhuntressxir**

**Creation to Ash**

**TheRazGrizDragon**

I don't own Naruto

* * *

-In the forest- After hiding with the scroll, Naruto set out to complete the second half of his "exam". Learning one of the jutsus.

'Kage bushin. So far, this looks like the only one I would be able to complete before Mizuki finds me.' thought Naruto.

After several hours of work, Naruto was able to perform the jutsu, and just in time to!

"Naruto, what do you think you're doing", exclaimed Iruka, "Do you know how dangerous what you did was".

Startled, Naruto turned around, not expecting to be hearing Iruka.

"I know, but you wouldn't let me take this test, so Mizuki told me about it. And i passed! I only learned one jutu, but that's all I needed, right Iruka?"

Confused, Iruka asked "What test? What did Mizuki tell you"?

So excitedly, but somewhat confused, Naruto told Iruka about the test Mizuki put him up to, the test which only Kages have passed.

"But I thought you knew this"?

Before Iruka could say anything else, a shuriken tore through the air, forcing Iruka to dodge.

"Well, well, well, i'm impressed Naruto! I didn't expect you to find and get away with the forbidden scroll. Now just be a good boy and hand it over!"

"Don't do it!", shouted Iruka, "He's tricking you!"

Mizuiki tisked, "Just shut up and die!"

Taking the fuma shuriken off of his back, Mizuke threw it at Iruka, aiming to cleave him in two. Quickly palming two kunai, Iruka successfully deflected the speeding shuriken up into the treetops.

As Mizuki took another fuma shuriken off of his back, Iruka turned to Naruto, who had been stunned by Mizuke's betrayal, and frantically yelled,

"Get out of here! Tell the Hokage whats happening! Mizuke can't be allowed to esca-GAH!"

When Iruka's back was turned, Mizuki took the opportunity to throw regular shuriken, as they make less sound.

"My, Iruka, you don't look too well. You should sit down while I deal with Naruto. I promise, i'll be back for you", Mizuki taunted.

-with Naruto -

Running through the forest like a frightened rabbit, Naruto was making his way back toward the village. Speaking to himself, Naruto asked, "What if Iruka dies because of me? I'll be alone again. No! I can't allow that! If only I could be in two places at the same time. Oh wait! I can!"

Making a clone, Naruto ordered it to find the Hokage, and silently started back the way he came.

Naruto used every sense he had to try to be alert, in case of a sneak attack by Mizuki.

Hearing almost silent footsteps, Naruto his in a bush and waited for his chance to strike.

Timing his strike perfectly, Naruto, with the climbing spikes still on his hands, lunged at Mizuki. Much to both of their surprise, Naruto misjudged his speed and was way to fast to aim his strike. His hit only managed to tear open Mizuki's vest.

Being a veteran, Mizuki responded quickly with a swift kick to Naruto's ribs. Mizuki winced as his foot connected with Naruto's chest.

'What is this kid made of? It feels like i'm kicking a wall!'

Naruto was confused. 'Okayyy, i'm pretty sure that a kick to the ribs is supposed to hurt more than that.'

Mizuki, standing up straight, thought, 'I cant have him making a commotion. Time to break his spirits'

"Tell me Naruto," he started," do you know why everyone hates you so much? It's because you are an abomination! A freak! A demon! You see, the day you were born, your parents were killed fighting the kyuubi, the nine-tailed disaster. Knowing that he couldn't beat it, the fourth Hokage decided to seal the demon away into a child. You were that child. You are the one who killed the Hokage, the one who destroyed most of the village, the one who killed so many of everyone's families and friends. You are the Kyuubi, and now, I'll be the hero that kills you."

Expecting this revelation to stun Naruto, Mizuki lashed out with his last fuma shuriken, putting enough force and chakra behind it to cut through solid rock.

Naruto, however, lazily raised his hand and caught the shuriken just inches away from his neck.

Looking directly in his eyes, Naruto said, " What makes you think that I didn't know that already?"

Mizuke was terrified.

Naruto's eyes had changed to slitted, red pupils and black iris' with royal purple sclera's while chakra was rolling off of him in waves.

...

The beating Mizuke had received left him in a sizable crater, heavily bruised, and with more than half of his bones broken.

Seconds before blacking out, Mizuki thought

'In retrospect, challenging a demon was NOT a good idea'.

Iruka, having recovered enough to move, came upon this view of Mizuki lying beaten on the ground, and Naruto passed out on the floor.

Iruka felt pride in Naruto, because even though Mizuki had attacked him and lied to him, Naruto did not kill him when he had every right to do so.

Iruka limped over to Naruto, healed the slight scrapes he had, and carried Naruto back to the village.

* * *

And Done!

Many thanks to you that review.

Chapter 7 coming soon.


	7. Chapter 7

Many thanks for the reviews from:

**Silvermane1**

**Creation to Ash**

**darkhuntressxir**

**garra king of the sand**

**TheRazGrizDragon**

**Lucio BetaBlake**

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Waking up to the hellish invention that is an alarm-clock, Naruto couldn't help but be slightly upset. After all, he had the day off after failing, again, to graduate.

After slapping the alarm to turn it off, Naruto went back to bed.

Well, he tried to.

As he laid back down, he couldn't help but think about his failure to pass Irukas test. Such thoughts made sleep impossible.

With a groan, Naruto swung his legs out from under the covers and sat up.

After rubbing the crust out of the corner of his eyes, he started towards his dresser to start the day.

As he reached for the top drawer, he noticed an envelope on his dresser. Not knowing who it was from, Naruto cautiously opened the envelope, as if he was waiting for fire to shoot out of it.

It wouldn't be the first time someone sent a trap in an envelope.

No fire-ball or poison shot out of it, so he determined it must not be dangerous.

He was very wrong.

As he pulled the note out of its enclosing, he received one of the most painful lacerations that he could remember getting.

A paper cut.

Cursing, Naruto opened the note and as he read it his face brightened up.

"Dear Naruto,

I am so proud of you. You completely overwhelmed my expectations of you. It is my great privilege and pleasure to let know you that you finally graduated. Inside, you will find your forehead protector. wear it with pride.

Now get you butt to school. I set you alarm early for you. You can't be late on your first day of being a ninja.

-Iruka"

With a sense of profound reverence, Naruto slid the forehead protector out of the envelope, escaping the cold sting of another paper cut.

As he gazed upon the metal band, he noticed that it had numerous scratches and slight pock-marks littered over its face. the cloth, likewise, was worn.

Confused about why his "new" forehead protector was so damaged, he turned it around and noticed the name etched in the back.

Iruka Umino

Instantly, the events from the previous night flooded into his mind. His failing the test. Being tricked by Mizuki into stealing the forbidden scroll. The fact that he Knocked out two powerful men with a jutsu of his own and learned a new jutsu in one night.

' Black mail forever' Naruto thought with a chuckle.

Then he recalled that Iruka was badly injured when he ran from Mizuki. The fact that everyone knew about the Kyuubi. The pleasure he felt in calling upon the power that he possessed. Then the fact that he never did make it back to Iruka.

Looking at the forehead protector that he was clutching, Naruto silently crying.

" I...I wasn't strong enough. I failed him. I always fail." Sinking to his knees, he let out a moan.

"Why! Why Iruka. It should have been me. It should have been ME!" Naruto started sinking into despair. "I don't have anyone now. I can't go on." Taking out his kunai, he pressed it lightly to his naval, drawing a minuscule amount of blood.

Images of Irukas smiling face flashed through his mind, along with Hiruzen, Teuchi, Ayame, and Sasuke.

Determination found its way back to Naruto, flushing out all thoughts of suicide.

"Ni. I'm not alone. I will go on and be the best ninja ever."

Rising from the floor, he wiped the tears from his eyes.

Looking at his forehead protector, he stated,"I promise, I will make you proud." and set out for the Academy.

Naruto walked into the class room so sedately that no one even noticed him with the exception of Sasuke.

The room was buzzing with dozens of excited conversations about peoples dreams of being a ninja. Or in Shino's case, just the buzz of insects.

Naruto took his place next to Sasuke, who noticed the profound lack of excitement from him.

" Naruto. How did you pass" was all that Sasuke said.

"I'll tell you later."

Before Sasuke could say anything else, Sakura started screeching at Naruto about, how only people who passed were allowed in, and how he was defiling the air around Sasuke.

Without so much as a hint of annoyance in his body language, he pointed his thumb at the forehead protector on his head, earning the laughter of the class at her gaping expression.

"Alright, everyone. Shut UP!" Was the surprisingly familiar shout that came from the door way.

Naruto was left gaping at the person that he thought dead.

"Iruka!" exclaimed Naruto as he flung himself across the room at the said man.

Taken by surprise, Iruka could not dodge the blond cannonball that was Naruto.

"I missed you so much, I thought you were dead! Don't ever die, okay! Well, not till I'm as old and wrinkly as Jiji." Naruto half cried, half shouted.

Rubbing the back of his head, Iruka sheepishly muttered his agreement.

After finals consoling Naruto and getting the class to quiet down, Iruka started in on his lecture of a ninjas duties and the sacrifices that they will make for the greater good, all while Naruto tried his hardest to stay awake, just to hear Irukas voice.

"Now to announce the teams."

Everyone only listened to the teams and who they were with if their name was called or someone who they wanted on a team was called.

"Sakura"

Naruto, completely missing the name of the team leader, sat straight up when he heard Sakura's name, as did Sasuke.

Now, it isn't what you think. Naruto wanted to be on Sakura's team just as much as Sasuke did. That is not at all. Over the years, her grating voice and personality, along with the constant hitting, pushed her far from Naruto's heart.

"Sasuke"

Almost the same instant Sasuke's name was called, Sakura started to cheer, dance, and yell something about true love always winning, at a volume that made everyone cringe.

Sasuke was cursing up a storm and trying to barge with Iruka to be on a different team.

Naruto was just laughing at his friends cursed luck.

"And Naruto"

Face planting with enough force to crack his desk, Naruto started muttering about how life isn't fair and that bad thing always happen to him.

Sakura was loudly complaining about Naruto on Sasuke's team and how he would only pull them down.

Sasuke settled for an evil smirk and a dark chuckle, glad that he didn't have to suffer alone.

As Naruto wallowed in his ill fate, the rest of the teams were announced and the Jonin teachers started to arrive for their team.

After noticing that everyone that was not o his team was gone, Naruto sat up and just waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After thirty minutes of sitting and doing nothing, the three remaining people started with their own activities.

While Naruto started flicking pencils across the room and Sakura continued to stare at he love, Sasuke pulled out a thick leather-bound book that looked like its page count could give a dictionary a run for its money.

It wasn't a dictionary, of course, but a book written my Itach Uchiha, entitled, "Uchihas guide to .Fangirls" The front page read as so, "Tips for ridding yourself of fangirls. Tip #1: Genocide of the female race. Tip#2: suicide. The fangirl is a parasite that not even the mightiest of Uchihas can eradicate. Fortunately, there are way to shape and mold them to better suit your needs and goals. This book will go over the different methods and techniques of doing so. WARNING: Do not attempt any skill in this book until you have completed it. If you do attempt to use these skills before such time, you may unintentionally gain more fangirls and ruin future attempts at obtaining a normal life."

Sasuke started this book on the first day of his graduating year and, while only a quarter way through, was eagerly learning.

Sure, Itachi Uchiha is a genocidal psychopath with a god-complex. That doesn't stop him from having good advice.

After another thirty minutes passed, only Naruto changed his activities. He graduated from flicking pencils to setting up an elaborate trap (prank) using desks, wire, pencils, glue,a single black board eraser, and a gigantic bag of bright pink feathers. Where he got them was a mystery.

When their teacher walks in, at the two-hour mark, he was thrown into chaos.

When he opens the door, the black board eraser fell, hitting him on the head and pulling a single pencil, that was acting like a peg. When the pencil was set free, it released a line of wire that was holding up three desks, dropping them to the floor, releasing more pegs. As more desks fell from the ceiling, the first two landed on tubes of glue, which in turn sprayed the man at the door. The last falling desks tore open and flung the bag of pink feathers across the room.

The final result was a bright, pink feather, covered man.

Naruto was rolling of the floor with laughter, Sakura was berating Naruto for acting like a child, and Sasuke was struggling to hold in his own mirth.

"My first impression of you is," said the feather covered man, "I hate you. Meet me on the roof in five minutes." then looking down at himself, he said,"Make that fifteen." and with a clown of smoke, he was gone.

After gaining some small measure of composure, the three students made their way up to the roof.

What they saw started the laughing all over again.

As they were five minutes early, they witnessed their teacher being attacked by a medium-sized cat with a bow on its left ear.

After a quick struggle, their teacher, still covered in feathers, and now scratches, succeeded in subduing the beast and proceeded to punt it off of the side of the building.

They all sweet-dropped. 'This is our teacher' was there collective thought.

After punting the cat off of the building, their teacher turned to his students and told them to sit down.

"Okay. Tell me your names, likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future. Lets start with you pinky." He said, pointing at Sakura.

Unsure of herself, she asked, " Do you mind if you go first, that way we all know how to do it?"

"Why yes. I do mind." he said as he continued to stare in her eyes.

More than a little nervous, she started.

"My name is Sakura. I like.." she looked at Sasuke." I hate Ino, Naruto and whoever else gets in the way of my dream. My dream is .." She looked at Sasuke again and started to giggle.

He had to stop himself from shuddering.

Their teacher just looked at her, unreadable, for a bit, before he said. "Your name is Sakura? Wow. Your parents must have the combined imagination of a cantaloupe. Alright, now it is your turn Blondie."

"I'm Naruto, I like ramen, Teuchi, Ayame, Iruka, Jiji, and Sasuke. I hate the three-minute it takes to make ramen and people who hate others for no good reason. I dream of being the best ninja ever!" As he finished he jumped up and pointed at the sun.

"I think I hate you the most. And I have a very good reason." said the still unnamed man, earning another round of laughter from Naruto.

"Duck-Butt. It's your turn"

Scowling, Sasuke started. "I'm Sasuke." Sakura interrupted to yell, "Yeah you are!"

Ignoring her, he continued, " I like Naruto, my book and silence. I hate a certain man and fangirls. My dream is to rid my self of the bane of my existence and revive my clan."

Blushing, Sakura tried to say seductively," I'll help you with your dream, Sasuke."

However, Sasuke's and Sakura's view of that statement were very different.

-Sakura's daydream

She was walking down the ile. Cheery blossoms were floating down from the ceiling. Up at the altar, dressed in a traditional white kimono, stood Sasuke gently smiling.

After saying their vows, they crossed their wrists and the prest tied them together with a silk ribbon.

Lifting up Sakura's veil, Sasuke passionately kissed her.

"Shall we go, Sakura Uchiha?"

"I would love to, Sasuke Uchiha."

-end daydream

-Sasuke's Daydream

Sakura had gathered all of Sasuke's fangirls to a large, indoor stadium, for a "Sasuke Day Celebration".

As night fell, the party only got more rambunctious, and firecrackers and sparklers were being lit.

The smoke from the firecrackers wafted up to the sprinkler system which set off the fire alarm.

The moment the fire alarms went off, the sprinklers turned on.

However, instead of water, gasoline rained down upon the fangirls.

There were no survivors.

-end daydream.

" Well, all of you went, so I guess it is my turn. My name is Kakashi. My likes. dislikes, and dreams are none of your business." He finished with an eye-smile.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke face-vaulted.

"All we learned was your name." Sakura shouted, after recovering.

"And as ninja, you should know better than give out personal information. Now, we will meet tomorrow ar 0700 for a survival test." and before anyone could complain or say that they already took that test, he continued. "This test is unlike anything you have done before. In fact, it has a 66.6% chance of failure, meaning that all of you can fail."

This Information sent the new graduates reeling.

"Oh. You might not want to eat breakfast tomorrow either. You most likely will throw-up. Cho."

And just like that, Kakashi was gone, leaving Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke to go home and try to prepare for the grueling challenge that was ahead of them.

* * *

Thanks for reading and remember to review. It really helps to get my story out there.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi guys and girls. Sorry about the update. I kind of lost interest for a while.

Thanks for the reviews from a lot of people. ( It will take up to much space so I won't put it down anymore.)

I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

* * *

-The next day

"You're late!" Sakura screamed.

"Well there was an old ladies crossing the road, and I just had to help her./Well, I got lost on the road of life." Kakashi and Naruto said, walking in from opposite sides of the clearing.

Naruto and Kakashi looked at each other, surprise fully evident on there faces/mask.

"Ya, I saw you walking grandma Wo across the street. Didn't you know she hates being helped. It could have saved you some time if she wasn't trying to beat you off of her." Naruto said with a smirk.

Deciding to play along with the little squirt, Kakashi said, " Na. She likes it when I walk with her. I can tell because she doesnt hit me as hard as other people. I would have been here sooner if you didn't stop me for directions. Life street is the scenic route. Everybody knows that."

After a quick laugh from the late-comers, Kakashi pulled out an alarm clock from a bush and two bells from his pocket.

"OK my midget, the test is simple. All you have to do is take the bells from me before the alarm goes of at noon. Whoever doesn't get a bell will fail."

" But there are only two bells. That's not fair!" Sakura fumed.

"I never said it was fair. Oh and before I forget." Kakashi pulled out his little orange book, and said, " The test started two hours ago."

As he said this Naruto and Sakura shouted at him. "WHAT! You weren't here two hours ago."

"Ah, but you see, the clock was here and all ready ticking two hours ago, so the test started."

Naruto decided to fall back into the brush around the clearing as Sakura continued to yell at their tricky teacher. As he was moving around to the other end of the clearing, something slapped its self on Naruto's mouth from behind, stifling the girly scream that followed.

"Shhh. We need to work together if we are going to beat him." whispered Sasuke.

"What?" whispered Naruto back. " How are you here and over there?"He said as he pointed to the clearing that Sakura was still arguing with Kakashi in. And sure enough, Sasuke was lounging next to a tree just to Kakashi's left.

"Clone. Don't you remember the plan we made."

Naruto had the decency to look sheepish, "Not really. I was too busy eating."

Sasuke just huffed at him. "I'm amazed at your ability to block all intelligent thought, when eating. Anyway, here is the plan."

After Sasuke's explanation, both boys took off.

-Back in the clearing.

Kakashi was starting to get irritable. All he wanted to do was finish his book. But could he? Nooo. The one girl on the team was yelling at him for the unfairness of the test, how late he was in the first place and now on his choice of literature. And to make it worse, Sasuke was just sitting there smiling at his displeasure and Naruto just walked off. No, this was not his best day.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!" Shouted Sakura.

Kakashi has had enough. In a blink of an eye, he made his way behind the girl and delivered a heavy chop to her neck, aiming to knock her out. The moment he started the swing, however, is when he knew he was screwed. His sharp eyes just noticed the faint blurry lines associated with the clone jutsu and could see slightly though the image to the post that he planned on tying the loser to. Just before his had connected, he thought, 'Smart girl".

BOOM!

Rolling out of the smoke cloud, Kakashi had little time to posses his surroundings.

'Trees, so I'm out of the clearing. Must have been more than one explosive tag on that post. Three chakra signatures at two o'clock, six o'clock, and ten o'clock moving in fast and too close for comfort. Got to move.'

Jumping straight up and over his assailants, he saw that the people attacking him was none other than three Naruto's. Before he could posses what he was seeing, he was entangled in a web of ninja wire covered in super glue. Luckily for him, the super glue wasn't touching any skin, just cloth. UNluckily for him, Sasuke managed to complete the fire-ball jutsu, and now a fifteen foot wide ball of destruction, traveling at sixty miles per hour, was about 176 feet away from him, giving Kakashi two seconds to move.

Normally, two seconds is more than enough time for a ninja of his caliber to evade Any attack. However, the super glue/ wire web was attached to his mask and, if he ripped free, it would expose one of his biggest secrets. But, Kakashi valued his life more than his personal secrets, so he ripped his mask and other clothing items to escape, effectively leaving his clothes to burn.

Landing on the forest floor, Kakashi was silent. He wasn't silent because of embarrassment or anger. He was quiet so he could listen for the kids. And hear them he did.

" What? I made sure that the wire caught his mask. I saw it burn! How is it still on his face?!" Naruto loudly whispered.

"I don't know. Maybe he has some sort of storage seal on his face that has more masks in it." Was Sakura's reply.

"Hn. Lets just pass this test and try to see his face another day." Said Sasuke.

With a nice big smile behind his "SECOND" mask, Kakashi walked to the trio.

"Well lookie here. Someone thought that they could pull a fast one and see my face. Nice try, by the way. But I think that you miss heard me. The test is to get these bells from me. Not get my mask off me." He said holding the "bells"

Naruto, Sasuke ans Sakura just looked at him strangely. After a full minute of staring, Kakashi asked, "What?"

The Genin just looked at each other, then looked back and pulled out one bell from their pockets.

Kakashi could not understand what he was seeing. Naruto was holding a bell. Sakura was holding a bell. Sasuke was holding a bell... So what was he holding. Looking at his "bells" he was even more confused. Bells are not furry, are they. And then it clicked. He wasn't holding bells, he was holding two TERRIFIED mice. And terrified mice tend to bite the thing that is terrifying them.

A few muttered curses later, and the mice were gone. But that still left the three bell problem.

Turning his attention back to his students, he said, " I want to know how you did it."

"It was simple, really." Started Sasuke. " I have heard stories about your 'Bell Test' from a few of the people who had to retake the Academy, so last night, we made a plan."

"You see, we were never really in the clearing to begin with." Sakura said, gesturing to Sasuke and herself. " We hid in the forest and had clones in the clearing. As you found out, I placed my clone over one of the posts in the middle that I covered with paper bombs. That way, when I irritated you enough, and you try to knock me out, you would be caught in the blast and carried into the forest straight to Naruto and his trap. That is where-"

"Hey! That was my trap. I get to tell that part." Naruto shouted.

Sakura rolled her eyes and let him talk.

"OK. So I knew where you would go, because Sakura told me, so I made a net of wire and glue. I used a lot of my super glue for that trap, so i'm glad it worked. Anyway, when you got blasted, which was awesome by the way. I made two clones to try to get you. It would have been so cool if I caught you, but you just had to jump. But that was ok, because if you didn't, I would have just wasted a bunch of glue for nothing. So, ya. You fell right into my trap... HAHAHA! Oh boy. You have no idea how long I have wanted to say that. Anyway, that is where Sasuke came in."

" From there, it was child's play. With the glue on your mask and my fire-ball closing in, you had a dilemma. Either let the fire-ball hit you, or free yourself and risk us seeing your 'face'. In that second that it took you to decide, I placed a small genjutsu on you making you think that we had the bells and that you had mice. When you tossed the mice at us, two of us caught the real bells and one of us is holding a fake. You where then faced with a different question. Who has the real bells and who has the fake." As Sasuke finished, all the Genin closed there hands around the bells.

Kakashi was stunned. Never has he seen such team work in Genin, nor planning. After some time, Kakashi smiled. "I have some very good news. You all...Fail." Kakashi dispelled himself, and consequently, the 'real' bells. In the distance, the three stunned students heard the alarm go off.

- Back in the clearing.

Kakashi could not have been happier at the moment. He just received all the memories of his shadow clone, showing him the team work of the three students, and he just finished his book. But he wanted to test that team work to the fullest.

"YOU CHEATED!" screamed Naruto, Sakura, and surprisingly Sasuke, as they entered the clearing.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kakashi, trying to sound confused and hurt. "I'm a ninja, and as a ninja there is no such thing as cheating. Now, since I don't have anything else to do today, I'll let you try again after lunch." He said as he gestured to two bento boxes.

"HEY! There's only two boxes. How are we all going to eat if there is only two?!" Naruto said.

Kakashi eye smiled. " I'm glad you asked. The one that did the least to help catch 'me' is the one that doesn't get to eat. And that was Sasuke." He suddenly turned serious. " However, if either one of you," pointing at Naruto and Sakura," give him any of your food, you all will fail instantly." Returning to his jovial self, he smiled and walked away after tying Sasuke up.

About five minutes after Kakashi left, Sakura started to worry about Sasuke. No matter how loud or how painful his hunger pains were, he refused to eat anything that she offered him.

"Um. Naruto? Can you help me with Sasuke."

"Sure. You just have to know what makes him tick." Naruto said, as he dangled a tomato in Sasuke's face.

Seeing the tomato just inches from his face, Sasuke started to drool. He opened his mouth to take a bite, but remembered Kakashi's warning and hesitated. Naruto did not. He just shoved the whole thing in Sasuke's mouth.

As the tangy juice seeped into his mouth, his control broke, and he started to devour anything his team mates would give him.

Just as Naruto was about to give him another tomato, Kakashi appeared in front of the genin.

Dark clouds covered the sky and the sound of light wind filled the clearing. as Kakashi spoke.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked in a omonis tone.

Naruto was the first to respond. "We're feeding him. I can't just let him starve because you told me too. We have to stick together. Right Sakura?"

"R-Right."

"Well then, I'm sorry to say, but you... Pass!" the moment he finished, the dark clouds went away and were replaced by bright blue sky's and enough clouds to call it a 'perfect day'.

Nobody spoke, but the looks on the genin's faces sad it all. 'HU!'

"The people who break the rules are trash." Said Kakashi. "But people who abandon their friends are even lower than trash. Always protect each other and correct one another when one of you starts to turn astray. That is what this test was about. I expect you to remember this and abide by it."

Naruto beamed." Don't worry, I'll always stick out for my friends. I promise."

The moment the promise came out of his mouth, Naruto remembered what his 'tenants' had told him about promises and how they were tried to Gozu, Mezu, and now Mara and Kyuubi.

-Flash back

"I don't understand. What happened?" a confused Naruto asked Gozu.

It was the night of October tenth, after the beating.

"We have told you. Our knowledge of the human body was lacking and our power was lessened outside of the seal. To save your life, we made a deal with Mara to temporarily mix our power with his and gain his knowledge of the human body, to heal you. The stipulation was simple and all the more binding because of it. By our sense of justice, you are bound. Wrongs you commit must be righted and promises kept. Failure to do so will result in punishment for not only you, but those around you. For every week a wrong is not righted, one of your friends will be ill, starting with you. The illness will only pass when the wrong has been righted. Be warned. With every week your sickness will double and one other will gain the same illness, until you die or fix your wrong. If you do die from the illness, your friends will be released. If you break a promise, Mara and Kyuubi will have the authority to haunt your dreams with nightmare and your waking with illusions. These will remain until you find release by your own hands, namely suicide, or have been forgiven by the person who's promise you broke. And if you do choose death, you will become what you hate most. A demon. You shall walk forever hated by humans, for what you will be, and demons, for choosing the path of suicide. This was the deal made and the price of life."

-End Flash back

"I'll hold you to that." Kakashi jokingly said.

"_**And so shall we**_." Came the whispers of his 'guests'

With a new sense of reverence for promises, Naruto made his way home.

* * *

I'll update when I want to now. Hopefully it won't take as long next time.

Please review! I need them. I need them or I'll explode.

Till next time.


	9. Chapter 9

And I'm back with another mid-length chapter full of fun and fright.

Once again.

I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

* * *

"Jiji. If I don't get a C-rank mission soon, I 'might' have to teach Konokamaru my 'special' jutsu. Then, I 'might' have to 'suggest' that he should run into one of you meetings to 'ambush' you. Do you understand?" Naruto said in a hushed tone.

Why did Naruto make such threats to the leader of the world strongest village? Simple. After a month of D-rank missions, composed of fence painting, gardening, pet care, and other assorted chores, Naruto was fed-up. There is only so many times that the demon cat Tora can claw at ones team-mates before its losses its appeal.

On the outside, Hazurin was as cool as ice, but on the inside he was freaking out. While Hazurin did manage to get Naruto's 'special' jutsu in the forbidden scroll, he lost the paperwork that made such a jutsu illegal to teach, much to Donzo's displeasure. Add that to the fact that Konokamaru had a major case of hero-worship for Naruto, and you get a volatile situation.

Thinking quick, Hazuren said, " NO!.. I mean.. There is no need for threats. I already have the perfect C-rank mission for you."

" Sweet! What is it? Are we going to find a deep cover operative that had to pull a dirty mission that was for the good of the village, but ended up having to leave to maintain his cover of being a 'bad guy' so that he could be recruited into an evil organization that plans on ruling the world? OH! Are we going to stop a mad scientist from finding immortality and possessing small boys so that he can destroy the village because of some misconceived notion that he was denied something that he thought he should have? Or how about saving a ..." Naruto trailed on with wild fantasies about being a super ninja fighting crime and saving the world.

- Somewhere on the border of Spring Country

"There is no way to escape. Nowhere to run. If I am refused the information I seek, I will see to it that your days will be filled with agony and ..." At that moment, Itachi's diaphragm and nasal cavities rebelled against him, resulting in a high-pitched *squeak*.

The man who Itachi was intimidating just stared into his eyes for a full three seconds before laughing so hard that he threw-up and passed out.

Itachi's partner, Kisame, already knew what to do before being asked.

"Kisame." Itachi started.

"Ya ya. No witnesses. Seriously, If you could just sneeze like a normal person, I wouldnt have to go through all this trouble.

"Just do it."

Kisame started unwrapping his sword. "Fine."

Needless to say, there were no witnesses.

- In the new Oto Village.

Orochumaru was standing over one of his less disturbing experiments. He was working on a new, sound sensitive explosive.

After countless hours of research and hissy fits when he mixed the wrong amounts of chemicals, he had done it. The unassuming, two pounds of white powder had a burn rate of thirty-nine-hundred feet per second and reacted to anything over five decibel. He planed on rigging his house so that if he was gone and someone broke in or even whispered too loud, they would get a nasty surprise.

Kabuto whispered a congratulations into Orochumaru's ear.

As Orochumaru turned to reply, the faint tickle of a sneeze was rapidly reaching a crescendo. Before he even had a chance to look sorry for himself, he sneezed.

Two pounds of high explosives makes a lot more than five decibel.

- In the Hokage's office.

As Kakashi just stared at his rambling genin, Hazurin decided to bring in the client for the mission.

Tazuna, I'll like to introduce you to the team that will be protecting you.

Tazuna walked in to find one boy in a bright orange jump suit, rambling about stopping a egomaniac who wanted to control the world with the moon because when he was left to die, After asking to be left to die, he made his friend promise to keep some girl alive and then the girl died anyway. Another boy pretending to listen to the ramblings, a girl with bright pink hair whose name probably had something to do with cheery blossoms and a cyclops that had his nose in a book that should definitely not be in a child's vicinity.

"This is the team? They are a bunch of kids!"

Kakashi, without moving from his spot, said, "Don't worry. Even if they are kids, I am a Jonin and am more than capable of protecting you." immediately after saying this, Kakashi started to giggle to himself while still reading his book.

Resisting the urge to down the whole bottle of saké in his hand, (clients name) informed them that they will be leaving the next morning at nine o'clock.

After Tazuna left the room, Naruto finally stopped his rant long enough to ask "Who was the smelly drunk?"

"He is the high preast of the Cult of Ramen and just made the entire village part of the cult." Sasuke said.

"..Are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying. I'm merely enhancing the truth."

- The Next Day.

'Why do I have to get the Dobe? Why couldn't Kakashi or Sakura get him.' Sasuke thought as he walked down 'Skeletal Lane' to Naruto's apartment.

Even after a month, Hazurin refused to let anyone remove the skeletons of the skeletal mob. They were still STANDING! Naruto, knowing that the skeletons freaked people out, tried to make them less scary by putting clothes on the bodies and paint on their faces to look more alive. unfortunately, the only clothes that he could buy or find were torn and dirty and his painting skills were lacking, so instead of making it a bit cheerier, he made it creepy as hell.

Finally reaching Naruto's apartment, he pushed the door in and walked inside.

During the years of the boys friendship, Sasuke learned that Naruto never locked his door. The one time Sasuke asked about it, Naruto told him that the less that was locked the easier the crowds would be. Sasuke never understood that until the night that Hazurin made Skeptical Lane. After all, if someone was going to hurt you and you tried to lock yourself away, when they finally caught you, they would be even more brutal. It sickened Sasuke to learn about the way people hated his friend, but now, no one came near Naruto's house.

For fear of becoming part of the 'collection'.

"Hello? Naruto. Are you hear?" No response "Naruto. Are you OK?" Sasuke made his way to Naruto's room and saw the tell-tail lump of a person under the blankets. "Come on. We have to be at the gates in an hour." Still no movement. "Fine. I'll make you get up." With a sharp tug, the blankets on Naruto's bed flew into the air. But there was no Naruto.

Getting a little panicky, Sasuke staggered back a few steps. "Ok. Not funny. Get out here now." Just outside the window, Sasuke saw a flicker of orange. Sasuke made his way over to the window and jerked it open.

Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. He was holding Naruto's jacket, but it was full of rips, burn marks and splattered with blood.

panicking even more now, Sasuke dropped the jacket and backed away from the window.

None of this was right. Naruto never went anywhere without his jacket. Even if he was hurt. Even if it was ninety degrees outside.

Just as he turned to run for help, he saw the bathroom door cracked open. That wasn't the strange part. The strange part was that there was blood on the floor. Lots of blood. Too much blood.

Flashes of the Uchiha Massacre raced through Sasuke's mind. Blood, bodies, and death everywhere. His parents on the floor with Itachi standing over them like the Grim Reaper.

Fear. unbridled fear swept through Sasuke's frame. He wanted to scream, but his voice left him. He wanted to run away but his legs pushed him closer to the door. He knew what was behind the door, but the hope that he was wrong made him inch closer. He knew what was on the other side and was terrified.

The act of pushing the door open was surreal. Like he was watching someone else do it. He was numb with fear.

Sasuke thought he was ready for anything. Dismembered parts and ragged flesh he had seen before. But nothing prepared him for what he saw.

Standing in the corner of the bathroom, in the tub, was not Naruto. It was a skeleton with a knife in its hand. Dripping blood. A skeleton's grin **stained** in blood. A skeleton in **Naruto's** clothes.

With a strangled cry, Sasuke ran for the exit. With the heightened senses that fear grants, Sasuke heard the footsteps behind him, gaining on him. He felt the hand reach out for him. And as he reached the front door, he was pulled back, and heard the voice behind him.

"Gotcha!"

Fear controlled Sasuke's every action. Sasuke flailed around, desperate to be free. Free from the thing that had chased him. Swinging behind himself, Sasuke's fist connected with the head of the monster, but its grip was like steel and despair was eating Sasuke's strength.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! It was a prank. Just a prank. Calm down!"

To scared to think straight, Sasuke tried kicking the thing that had turned him around.

Naruto has had enough. He punched Sasuke in the gut, sprawling him out on the floor.

After recovering enough to see, Sasuke found Naruto kneeling next to him.

"I'm sorry. I knew you were scared of the skeletons, so I set this up. I thought it would be funny. It was suppose to be funny."

"Funny! Funny!" Screamed Sasuke. "I thought you died. I thought that some monster killed you and wore your clothes. I thought.." Sasuke started crying. "I thought I lost my friend. I... I thought I lost you like... like I lost my family."

Naruto pulled Sasuke into an embrace. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Over and over he said that, trying to comfort the sacred youth.

After fifteen minutes, Sasuke finished crying and separated from Naruto.

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"If you ever do something like this again, I'll kill you. Understand?"

"I understand"

"And if you ever speak of this to anyone, I'll personally stick my foot so far up your butt, you will be able to taste the sweat on my knee."

"No problem. Now let's get going. We don't want to be late on our first C-rank, now do we?"

"Hey, Naruto."

"Yeah Sasuke?"

"I'm still mad at you."

* * *

-Low explosives (burn rate of less than 3,300 fps) including black powder, smokeless  
powder, flash powder and chlorates.

-High explosives (burn rate of more than 3,300 fps) including RDX, PETN,TNT,  
boosters, plastics, ammonium nitrate, commercial dynamites.

* * *

Thanks for reading and REVIEWING!

Seriously. Review. It's not hard.


	10. Chapter 10

I Did this chapter because I was bored and I wanted to be creative.

Thanks for the support from my readers.

I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

* * *

Bored. Just totally bored.

' This is an important mission' he said. ' It will be fun.' he said.

Shortly after leaving the village, Naruto was bored. Sasuke was fuming after the skeleton prank, and would not talk to Naruto, and Sakura was just trying to make a normal clone that looks like Sasuke, so that she could hold its hand. She forgot that nobody can touch normal clones. Kakashi was just reading his book, for the third time.

Naruto could deal with his friend being a punk, the pink girl being stupid, and the scare-crow being a perv. What he couldn't deal with was the fact that they were moving so slow.

Approximately eight minutes into the mission, Naruto tried to relieve his boredom by catching birds that flew by.

Not the best idea. First of all, the first bird that he tried to catch was a messenger hawk. A trained messenger hawk. With large talons and a sharp beak. That had hurt. A lot.

After that, he stayed away from the larger birds and focused on the smaller, faster ones. Swallows. You know, the ones with needle like beaks and fly in huge groups. Not all that fun.

After countless amounts of band-aids (like he really needed them) he decided that he hated birds. Letting his frustrations get the better of him, he kicked a Cuckoo that was crossing the road.

Bad idea. Very bad idea.

So here they are, an hour later and all out of band-aids, still walking down the road.

"Are we there yet?" asked Naruto

"No." everyone else

"... How about-"

"Naruto." started Sakura

"Ya?"

"If you start that, I will burn your ramen. All of it... Ever."

Deciding that it was in his bellies best interest to shut up, Naruto just started looking around for something to do. And that is when he saw two men sitting in a hole of to the left of the road. Thinking that something like that was strange, he turned to Kakashi.

"Hey Kakashi. What is that." Naruto said, pointing at the men in the hole.

" That my cute little genin is a poor excuse for a puddle. I have seen some that were almost a small pond by themselves, but this one is a bit small." Kakashi said. As he said this, he gave Naruto the 'Just go with it" look.

Looking back to the 'Puddle', Naruto noticed the faint warping in front of the men in the hole, and realized that they had a Gen-jutsu around them.

Sending Kakashi a wink, Naruto said, " I can make it bigger. I have to go anyway." and started over to where the 'puddle'.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes at Naruto, Sakura was yelling about how gross that was and Kakashi Tazuna just laughed softly.

After 'relieved' himself in the 'puddle', Naruto tripped and fell in a near by bush, picked himself up, and returned to his group.

- With the 'men in the hole'

"Gozu."

"Yeah Meizu"

"I'm going to kill that blond kid first."

"That was my plan too. Lets go."

As they preparing to dash over and kill ' that blond kid' and there mark, both brothers felt like a large predator was watching them from behind.

Slowly, so as to not provoke the ' predator' into attacking, the "Demon Brothers" turned around only to find themselves faces to face with 'The blond kid'.

"Hi. How are ya?"

Before the 'Demon Brothers' could think of something to say in such a weird predicament, Naruto punched them both directly in the face, trying to knock them out. When the first punch didn't knock them out Naruto punched them again. And again. And again.

After the sixth punch, both brothers were knocked out and stripped of anything metal or had the potential to do harm, shoved into a cardboard box, and then wrapped and tied with a big, red bow.

- With Team Seven

Kakashi was a bit confused.

He knew that Naruto 'relieved' himself on whoever was behind the knew that whoever was behind said Gen-jutsu was dangerous to his team.

What he didn't know was why nobody was attacking.

Did they see him and decide to wait for a better time to strike? Was Naruto's urine poisonous?

As he walked farther, he suddenly felt three chakra signatures rushing from behind. One signature that dwarfed the other two.

Whipping out a kunai from his thigh-holster, Kakashi spun to meet the threat, only to barely stop himself from shearing off Naruto's scalp.

"WHAA! Sheash Kakashi. I know you want to open your peasant, but tone it down."

Blinking owlishly at Naruto for a few second, Kakashi asked " What is in the box?"

" I found them in the puddle. I thought you might like to see them."

Kakashi, using a bit of caution, opened the box and found himself face to faces with two naked men. Even more disturbing than them being naked, Kakashi didn't recognize them at all.

"Umm.. Naruto. Who are these people and why are they naked?"

"Umm.. Kakashi. I don't know who they are and they're naked so they can't use anything as a weapon."

" Umm. Naruto. Can I see their equipment?"

" Umm. Sure."

" Umm. Naruto."

" Umm, Yeah Kakashi."

" Umm. These are the Demon Brothers. C-rank Nuke-nin."

" Umm. They were pretty easy to knock-out."

" Umm. Guys."

" Umm. Yeah Sakura."

" STOP SAYING 'UMM' BEFORE EVERYTHING YOU SAY!"

Kakashi and Naruto hung there heads, muttering about pink banshee that ruin their fun.

When Sakura screamed, she woke up the two naked nuke-nin.

"Umm. Gozu."

Umm. Yeah Meizu"

"DON'T YOU DARE START THAT 'Umm' THING AGAIN!" you know who.

Deciding to run for it, the Demon Brothers jumped up, forgetting that they were tied up. All that was accomplished was both of the brothers falling over the edge of the box and falling to the floor.

After sitting them against a tree, Kakashi interrogated them to find out who there mark was. It was an easy job. One, they were naked, very embarrassing. Two, as Kakashi was asking questions, Naruto would flash his 'Demon Eyes' at them, scaring them into submission. And Three, Kakashi was promising to parade them both, still naked, in front of the entire village hidden in the leaves.

'Pow!' One brother knocked out again. 'Whack!' The other brother was snoring right along-side his twin. After sending one of his ninja hounds to inform the ANBU of the capture of the Demon Brothers, Kakashi turned to the only conscience people.

"Ok. One. Naruto, I don't need you to add sound effects to my punches. Two. Tazuna, we need to talk. Why did you lie about this being a C-rank mission?"

"Please." Tazuna begged. "You have to understand. I am desperate. Wave Country is in dire straits. Gato is ruining the lives of everyone. He is using his shipping company to suck the country dry of every resource. I'm charged with the duty of building a bridge to the main land, effectively cutting off Gato's strangle hold on the country. If I don't finish the bridge, everyone from my home land will starve to death. Please. You have to help. This is our last chance."

"Well, You did lie to us and could have got us killed. I don't know." Kakashi turned to his cute little genin. " What do you guys think? Naruto?"

"I think we can do it. No promises tho."

Sasuke, who was still angry at Naruto, said. " Sure. I need to blow some steam."

Sakura just agreed with what Sasuke said.

Facing Tazuna again, Kakashi eye-smiled. " Looks like we are sticking with you. Lets get moving."

Sasuke moved over to Naruto. " Naruto. Where did you get the cardboard, wrapping paper, and bow?"

Naruto smiled. Not a sly smile or his real smile. No. This smile looked like it wanted to rub Naruto's forehead. "My back pocket."

"WHAT! Inconceivable!"

Naruto looked like he was thinking for a moment. "Fine. This crazy old man gave it to me when I tied them up."

"INCONCEIVABLE!"

"Sasuke. That word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Looking shocked, Sasuke whispered, "Inconceivable"

Both boys started laughing. As they finished, Naruto wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. As he did so, Sasuke finally noticed the bladed gauntlet on his hand. Sasuke didn't need to ask where Naruto got them. He remembered that Naruto said something about taking the Demon Brothers stuff so they didn't hurt anyone. However, He noticed that Naruto had another pair shoved in his pack.

Seeing Sasuke eye the other set of gauntlets, Naruto pulled them out and handed them to Sasuke.

"Here. See if they fit."

When Sasuke put his hand in the gauntlets, he noticed that the inside felt like it was filled with a thick gel that formed to his hand and then hardened, forming the gauntlets perfectly to his hand. Looking to Naruto for some answers, Naruto just said that his felt the same, and left it at that.

As the boys fiddled with their new weapons, Kakashi keep an eye on them. The fact that both boys could use such weapons was astounding.

Kakashi knew that the gauntlets have been passed down since before the start of the Clan wars, hundreds of years ago, and only allowed males that were blood brothers, or friends that thought as each other as brothers, to where them. He also knew that there was a horrifying backlash if one brother died while wearing the gauntlets. Namely insanity and blood-lust in the survivor.

While the stories about the gauntlets varied, a few things stayed the same in all of the stories. One thing that stayed the same was that whoever uses the gauntlets gain the title of "The Demon Brothers" The other part that stayed the same is that the people who use the gauntlets slowly developed an ability to anticipate each others actions, and while the chain was in place and if there brotherly bond was strong enough, melded minds and essentially became one person. While this gave a boost of power, it also, on rare occasions, trapped the users in the wrong body after separating the chain.

The reason that the Demon Brothers didn't gain more power from such use was because they only had the gauntlets for two or three years. That coupled with the fact that, while they were blood brothers, they never liked each other, there for having a weak bond.

'Yes' Thought Kakashi. 'I'll have to keep a close eye on them.'

* * *

I'm so glad I got to chapter ten. *does a little dance*

Review please and remember to wash your feet. Nobody needs that stank. Nobody!

Till next time.


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